THE SECOND DAY IN ATHENS

Depression Era

For the first meeting of the day we met the Depression Era collective members Zoe Hatziyannaki, Angela Svoronou, Yorgos Prinos in the former Romantso Magazine (Romanzo Periodiko) head quarter transformed into a bar and a cultural space. We were entoured by cigarette smoke, rhythmic music and enjoyed fresh squeezed orange juice and cappuccino freddo.

Drawing by Justin Tyler Tate

The Depression Era Project inhabits the urban and social landscapes of the crisis. It begins as a collective experiment, picturing the Greek city and its outer regions, the private lives of outcasts, the collapse of Public systems, the emergence of the Commons and snapshots of the everyday often under the radar, in order to understand the social, economical and historical transformation currently taking place in Greece. It seeks to do so with as clear a gaze as possible. It understands, in its double meaning, that entropy, disaster, uncertainty and insolvency are also states of mind, ushering us to an era where the notion of progress, the idea of growth and the reflex of looking forward to a future are no longer dominant modes of perceiving and creating in the world.

After a deep and intense discussion we picked some of the key notions and words from the meeting:

- starting point: 'everybody' was alone, need to work collectively, political approach, photography

- context: time of crises, no alternative options existed, need to produce different images than media is giving, reflections of the medium 

- try to present situation different than in the media

- ambition: dialogue with photographers and writers, creating the discourse  

- political discourse, political questions, everyday politics, political parties

- “Everything has a political dimension”

- “To not to choose is also a choice”
- DIY attitude

- challenge: need to focus on ongoing discourses, not arguing

- positive sides of collective working:1+1=3, support group, sharing

”I Am A Karate American Egg (Make America Great Again)”

In the evening we attended a performance called ”I Am A Karate American Egg (Make America Great Again)” by visual artists Maria Glyka, Vassilis Vlastaras and Jim Hobbs in the Beton7 Gallery.

About the performance:  False news produced intentionally for advertising purposes, seeking profit or appearing by mistake - informed citizens on social media living in a hyperlinked world where speed of information exceeds the speed of truth and it remains a reference point even though it is proved untrue. Thirty years after the fall of the Wall, international debates are being held for the "cost" of constructing a new one. Is the Greenhouse Effect a hoax? Did the Simpsons predict the election of the new US president? Is just playing golf the answer?

“…The posturing is not entirely surprising. Mr. Trump’s proposals to wall off the United States from a variety of foreign influences fit the promises he made to his base of working-class white voters, resentful of how trade and immigration have changed the country they claim as their own…
…Then there is the fact that Mr. Trump’s macroeconomic strategy, which looks set to marry increased government spending with high interest rates, is in some tension with his objectives on trade: By strengthening the value of the dollar, it will make the trade deficit bigger.
Finally, the problems that the president has resolved to tackle have largely petered out on their own. More Mexican immigrants are leaving the United States than coming in. And Chinese exports to the United States are actually declining…”
New York Times, Eduardo Porter, 31/1/2017

Feelings, notions: 

Clever anagrams, populism, deep irritation, anger...